withtheoldbreed | d-day + 26 ✯ video, spam & text

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d-day + 26 ✯ video, spam & text

[There's no question that Sledge isn't the same bright eyed, excited little kid he was doing the flood anymore. Even as he smiles, there's something kind of missing in his expression, genuine as it is.

(He's really starting to understand just how much of that kid died on Peleliu.)]

I just wanted to say thanks to those of you who kept an eye on the rest of us. [The smile turns a little wry, and there's a spark of something that might be life back in his eyes.] Guess there could be worse first floods.

[He says this in a way that both makes it clear that he's keeping this light and fun, and that he knows that's true. Especially considering his actual first flood had him thinking he was back on that fucking island, and he'd practically tried to choke Mickey trying to get his (toy) gun away from him.

There's a short pause, and he lets out a short breath of laughter.]

This really is the most snow I've ever seen in one place. Didn't even cross my mind that Christmas'd cause this much of a fuss around here.

[Private to Jimmy]

Thanks for lookin' out for me. [If Gene hadn't been eager to try and find a way to help Jimmy before - and he had been - this had been a pretty clear indicator that his inmate isn't actually as bad a guy as one might assume just from looking at a list of the stuff he's done.

That said, Gene still feels kind of way in over his head.]

I've got the stuff I said I'd ask the Admiral for, and I washed the stuff you lent me. Where d'you want me to drop 'em off?

[Private to Steve]

Sorry for getting you sick, sir.

[It's pretty obvious he does actually feel guilty about this, and might have hesitated to say anything about it at all.]

[Spam for Snafu]

[Back in a clean uniform with his .45 on his hip and his new Unit 3 pouches crisscrossed over his shoulders, Gene leaves his room with the stack of clean clothes he'd requested from the Admiral and his KA-BAR, heading straight for Snafu's room.

The door looks familiar, even if the context doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense to him. He'd kind of just assumed Snaf would be stuck with his bedroom from back home, although he's got less than no idea of what that would actually look like, or mean. He knows home means somewhere in Louisiana for his friend, but Snaf never talks about it the same way Bill might mention New York or Burgie Texas.

Anyway, Gene knocks on the door, not sure if he's feeling self conscious or just still trying to get his bearings back after the flood. The extra weight of the medical gear kind of helps, and it doesn't, because he's not a corpsman and he's not trying to be and it's not the familiar weight of a mortar base plate or sight, but it's something.]

[Private Gift List to the Admiral]

Dear Admiral,

I'd like to respectfully request the following items be delivered on Christmas, or at your convenience.

(3) winter sweaters for Merriell Shelton
(1) winter coat for Merriell Shelton
(1) picture frame with a photo of his son, Tommy, for Jimmy Darmody
(1) record player and (5) records for Jimmy Darmody, whatever kind of music he likes best
(12) MoonPies for Isaac Lahey
(1) package each of high quality graphite and colored pencils for Captain Rogers
(1) fully stocked Unit 3 (corpman's pouch) for Scott McCall
(1) book of 1940's slang for Cassel Sharpe
(1) high quality sketchbook for Kieren Walker
(1) book on Civil War history for Ian Gallagher
(1) book on Earth (my Earth) history for Lieutenant Commander T'Pol
(12) comic books for Dillon Cole

Your humble and obedient servant,
Eugene Sledge

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[The context for that familiar door is provided when Snafu opens it up - earlire he might have just called out for whoever it was to come in but he's been feeling the lack of weaponry more and more, getting a little antsy about it, just about the only thing that really is bothering him about this whole situation - and reveals the rough plank flooring and canvas ceiling of a tent on Pavuvu. There's four racks, a few stray personal items Gene'll probably recognise as belonging to Burgie and Jay as well as Snaf himself, and very little else. At least it's missing the rats and crabs.

Snaf lets the door swing open with a nod. He takes in the medical kit hanging off Gene's shoulders and of course that's what he chooses to comment on rather than the pile of clothes, eyebrows a little raised, voice somewhere between amused and skeptical.]

You train up as a corpsman when I wasn't lookin'?

I've helped three people bleeding three different colors of blood since I got here. Since we're low on corpsmen, I figured it'd be better to be prepared. [Which is true, considering the field dressings he'd started cramming in his belt pouches can only do so much, and admittedly so can the stuff in the bags, but... maybe this is just him feeling antsy, too, because this place is somehow even more disorganized than a battlefield in some ways.

Eugene pushes the clothes and the combat knife in its sheath into Snaf's arms before he can make any other snappy comments, and it's really only until then that he takes in the room behind his friend. "Room." Shack is more accurate, and it's a weird sort of double image to be seeing it here, although in an entirely different way than it is to wake up in his bed from back home. It doesn't go away when he takes a step inside.

At least it's missing the rats and crabs.]

[The other big (and very welcome) difference is that the rats and crabs have apparently been traded for a tiny room with a toilet and a sink. Indoor plumbing in a Pavuvu shack is such a great improvement. Snafu takes the pile of clothes and - even more welcome - the KA-BAR, shifting out of the way so Sledge can follow him in. He dumps the clothes on his cot and takes a seat next to them, picking up the knife and instantly feeling less on edge with it in his hands. He's not an idiot and he sees that unlike the clothes it's come directly off Gene's belt, but it's not really something he feels the need to comment on if Gene isn't going to, so all he says is:]

What colors?

Edited 2014-12-11 05:10 (UTC)

[Gene doesn't offer anything about it either. He's still irritated with the Admiral - although why, he kind of can't say, because it's probably stupid to be mad he wouldn't give an inmate a weapon or called him mister, not private, because he's not technically a marine here even if he feels like he is - and he knows he's likely to miss having it around, but if he misses feeling like he's got something on hand to defend himself, well.

Anyway, easier to just answer the question.]

Black, red and green. [It surprises him how casually he's able to say that, although maybe it helps that it's Snafu he's telling this to.]

Black's apparently still not normal for the guy it was happening to, but I'm pretty sure green's normal, for the other person.

[And maybe the black blood sticks out more in his mind because it'd happened so damn fast, and it'd sort of been before he'd really known about the death toll and all that. No amount of preparation really would have left him ready to deal with feeling the other guy's blood soaking through his clothes again, though.

(You can't dwell on it.)

Gene glances around the familiar-but-different room, and after realizing he's wondering what's weirder, being here or being in his room at home, he grasps for a distraction, pointing to the small bathroom.]

That's different.

[Snafu snorts out a laugh at the casual way Sledge explains that. It's not a disbelieving laugh or even one that's at all shocked - they're in fucking space, after all, on what is apparently a cruise through limbo, people having different colours of blood really isn't the most insane thing in the world - and he might have asked something else but then Gene changes the subject and he just goes along with it.]

Yeah. Still ain't used to it bein' there, tell you the truth.

[Strapping the KA-BAR to his belt (and feeling even better than he did just holding the thing), Snaf turns his attention to the pile of clothes. It's honestly a better selection than he's really had before and he glances through them for a moment before looking up at Sledge.]

You jus' happen to have these?

[The question makes him feel a little awkward, especially because it catches him slightly off guard and he's not all that sure why Snafu would need to question where they came from or anything. Guy needed clothes, Gene had the capacity to get them for him, so he did. Simple as that.]

I asked the Admiral for 'em. Figured you might want options. [One corner of his mouth ticks up in a small, wry smile.] Or just to wash your other one.

[Or burn it, even though Sledge still has his battered uniform.]

[It's not so much the uniform that Snafu's commenting on. It's pretty weird even to be handling a pile of civilian clothes, let alone thinking about changing out of the USMC greens he's been wearing pretty much without fail since basic. Maybe he'll want options later, sure, but he wasn't expecting that as an option.]

You ain't wearin' civvies.

[No, he's not, and he's not really sure why, the same way he's not sure if he wants to be Private Sledge here or not, if he feels more comfortable standing in this approximation of a tent on Pavuvu or his room from home, and so he doesn't really have a good answer to the not question. Gene wasn't expecting this as an option, either, let alone an expectation considering how few other people are in this spot, or a similar one.

Eventually, he shrugs, expression largely unchanged. Even if he knew how to articulate all that balled up confusion and uncertainty in him, he's not sure Snafu would want to hear about it, or know what to do with it if presented with it.]

I've got 'em if I want 'em.

Edited 2014-12-13 06:09 (UTC)

[After a moment or two watching him, Snafu's gaze drops back down to the pile of clothes and he shrugs. His voice is matter-of-fact.]

Guess now I do too, then.

[That's probably as close to thanks as Gene's going to get. Snaf stands up, settling the KA-BAR as he does, and digs around for a cigarette, sticking it in his mouth before crossing the space between them to offer the pack out to his buddy. Maybe that's closer to thanks.]

Guess so. [That's close enough to thanks for Gene, really. He hadn't done it expecting to get a thank you or anything.

He accepts the cigarette, pulls out his lighter to light it and then offers it to his friend, more because he half expects Snaf to have misplaced his than anything else.]

How's things?

[A reasonable expectation, even if Snaf has actually managed not to lose his lighter yet; he takes the offered one out of habit anyway and nods, passing it back after lighting his smoke. He speaks bluntly as he turns away to settle back down on the bed, never one to sugarcoat or soften his words.]

Turns out bein' dead ain't so bad after all.

[Gene hesitates, very clearly remembering the last time he moved towards one of these cots - he hasn't spent much if any time in this particular hut since then - before cautiously sitting down on Burgie's, careful not to upset any of the stuff lying around that still belongs to him. It's weird to see books, photos, packages and letters that belong to the other guys while knowing they're nowhere near here, and he's not sure if that makes them seem like they're dead, or if he just feels like he is.

Either way, it doesn't really help him take Snaf's comment any easier.

He lights up and takes a drag from his cigarette before saying anything else.]

You ever need anything else, you can ask, [He finally offers, meaning it sincerely.] I don't mind.

[It is weird to have the other guys' stuff in there, sort of. Snaf hasn't really gone through any of it - there's been too much other shit he's been getting used to on the ship, he hasn't been bored or lacking for stuff to get into yet - and honestly he's been trying not to think about any of it. He watches Sledge sit on Burgie's rack without comment, remembering that last time himself, how obvious it had been to him that this dumb kid wasn't even going to make it off the fucking beach and he was supposed to be in Snaf's mortar squad? Sledge isn't some green boot who needs to learn his place anymore, though. Turns out he'd been wrong about him.

He smokes in silence for a moment, until Gene speaks.]

Marines make do. [It comes out flat and dismissive. Except then he smirks and ducks his head.] But if you're fuckin' offerin', I ain't gonna say no.

Well, I am. [Gene manages a small smile, sort of pleased - if not necessarily surprised - that Snafu's going to be taking him up on it. It's still unsettling to hear him talk so casually about his own death, even if Gene's heard him talk about it more broadly plenty of times before. Ain't nobody going home he'd said, and sometimes, Gene wonders if that means him, too.

Physically, anyway. He already knows the kid he had been died on Peleliu.

He distracts himself again by giving his surroundings another look around.]

Didn't realize the Admiral could make stuff like this. I'm not sure I would've called it a room, back on Pavuvu.

[More like shack. Hut. Definitely not a house.]

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d-day + 26 ✯ video, spam & text

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